Virginia State Police have debunked social media rumors claiming there has been a mass abduction of children in the state. However, adding to the mass abduction claims, new rumors have said that a suspicious ice cream truck is being spotted every night.
About 100 children were reported missing to law enforcement agencies across Virginia from August 3 to 9. However, officials said the cases are not connected.
Several videos have gone viral on TikTok, showing compilations of children reported missing in Virginia. One video even shows screenshots of missing children appearing to be from the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children’s website. These clips have garnered missions of views.
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New rumors
A Facebook post that has surfaced has added another layer to the conspiracy theory. “Have y’all been seeing those stories on a lot of missing kids across VA over the past week & an ice truck keeps going through every night really late,” the post reads. “I’ve been slowly following it.”
Netizens expressed their fears in the comment section of the post, with user saying, “I’ve seen it. It’s disturbing! I’ve never seen so many missing people in my lifetime as right now!! And children being hurt or killed by their parents is crazy high it seems. It’s disheartening.” “Yes, either disappearing by walking away mysteriously, or going missing on a destination somewhere. In a lot of cases the parents are killing them,” wrote a user, while another said, “Yes and the ice cream trucks super creepy! Something has to be going on with those trucks after dark playing music loudly .”
One concerned user wrote, “Who really knows what the truth is, hopefully the truth is what’s reported. You just never know what to believe these days. Regardless, there are real threats to our kids in any and every state. Always best to keep your eyes and ears open anytime you walk out your front door and don’t let down your guard for a second until you’re safely back home. Very scary and very sad times we’re living in.” “So is the ice cream truck supposed to be luring the kids out at night? What time of day are the kids going missing?” a user asked. “These no good for nothings will use anything to get our kids. Parents please don’t let your kids go anywhere alone,” wrote another.
Rumors dismissed
Virginia State Police recently addressed the rumors, saying no such mass abduction has taken place. “Virginia State Police is aware of multiple social media posts raising concerns about missing children across the Commonwealth of Virginia. Virginia State Police is not investigating any reports of mass abductions in Virginia, nor is there evidence of mass abductions occurring in Virginia,” the police wrote.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children has also dismissed the rumors. “When there’s information out there that’s not necessarily accurate, that’s not helpful for law enforcement [and] parents that are looking for their children,” said Leemie Khang-Sofer with the organization, as reported by wtkr.com.
